


A promise

by AtPK



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, Winmin - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-11
Updated: 2015-07-11
Packaged: 2018-04-08 17:35:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4314189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AtPK/pseuds/AtPK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>suzuya-the-flower-child asked for smutty Erwin/Armin but I ended up writing some of the fluffiest winmin instead – I’m sorry :/ there might be a part 2 though, and that might be smutty ….</p>
            </blockquote>





	A promise

Erwin broke away from one set of officials, only be to stopped by another. He shook hands, exchanged pleasantries, and once again moved on. He’d been trying to reach the door since the coronation had ended, but now that the officials had got it into their heads that he had the ear of the new queen, they all wanted to get on his good side.

How quickly things changed.

It wasn’t so long ago that these same officials had been calling for his head.

He turned and stopped, his path blocked.

“Erwin,”

“Nile.”

They stared at each other for a long moment, their silence seeming to say everything, and yet nothing at all.

“I’m glad you’re not dead,”

“Thank you.” Erwin acknowledged.

Nile held out his hand and Erwin took it, surprised when Nile also reached up and squeezed his arm, a firm grip that told him Nile meant what he said. They’d been through a lot of late, and butted heads more often then not, but they had been friends once and, despite everything, probably still were.

“It’s not over yet,” Erwin muttered quietly so the people around them couldn’t hear.

“Oh, I know.” Nile replied, a dark glint in his eyes. “You should get some sleep, you look like you need it.”

That was an understatement, but given how much they still didn’t know, he doubted that time had come just yet.

Erwin took his leave, this time actually making it to the door before his name was called. He turned and waited for the soldier to join him; they stepped outside together.

“Captain Levi asked me to give you this, sir.”

Erwin took the note, thanked the soldier and continued walking away from the chatter and hubbub of the party. He flipped open the folded paper and squinted at Levi’s barely legible writing; not that he was one to judge on handwriting now:

_we need to talk. it’s important._

Erwin scrunched up the note and threw it into the nearest grate. They hadn’t had a chance to talk since they’d parted ways back before Erwin had been arrested for treason, and he was certain Levi had far more to fill him in on then he would have liked.

And, on top of whatever important thing Levi had to say, there was also the basement of the Jaeger house in Shiganshina district, the titan shifter in his own basement, and the titan shifters currently at large beyond the wall, somewhere. If he wasn’t mistaken one of those shifters was the girlfriend of their recently crowned queen; perhaps he could use that to his advantage, offer immunity for surrender; and then when he had them? No doubt hand them over to Levi, so he could do what he did best.

Erwin’s head throbbed at the idea of once again asking Levi to do something that he knew Levi reviled, but there were few people he trusted enough to do what needed to be done, without taking personal enjoyment from doing it; Levi would do only what was necessary, and no more.

At some point he’d stopped walking and was now staring out a window at the city he had helped liberate, his gaze drawn to the fires still blazing near the Wall.

“Commander,” Erwin frowned, sighed and turned to face whoever this new disturbance was. “Are you ok, sir?”

“Yes, Armin. I’m fine.”

Armin was still wearing his dress uniform and it had the effect of making him look older; or maybe it was the look in his eyes that had changed. Either way, he didn’t look convinced by Erwin’s reply.

There were few soldiers who felt comfortable talking freely to him, Armin had been no exception when they’d first started working on strategies together, but after a time his insecurity had disappeared. And, as it had turned out, his knowledge of Eren and the 104th had been invaluable.

“And are you ok?” Erwin asked, turning the question back on him.

Armin looked up at him, searching his face.

“I don’t know.”

It was a simple answer and yet it said everything.

“I’m happy to see you.” Armin added quickly, as if afraid he wouldn’t say it at all if he paused too long, and Erwin felt that almost familiar flutter in his chest, his heart beating just a little faster.

The last time they had seen each other, Erwin had been making final amendments to his plan, and Armin had been working predominantly on battle strategy, sharpening some of Erwin’s own expedition formations.

They had been working quietly for hours, the lamplight growing dimmer as the gas reaching the bottom of the well.

_Erwin put down his pen and leaned back in his chair._

_“Armin,”_

_“Hhmm,”_

_“Why are you here?”_

_Armin paused in what he was writing and glanced over at him._

_“Why am I in your office, or why am I in the military?”_

_Erwin smiled softly. “The second one.”_

_Now Armin put down his pen and turned his full attention to Erwin._

_“Do you want the short answer, or the long one?”_

_Erwin closed his eyes: “The long one.”_

_Armin moved closer and sat down in the chair near him._

_If there was one thing he could be sure of, it was that Armin could quiet his mind when the noise got too loud; there was just something about the soft lilt of his voice and his clever words; Erwin wasn’t sure exactly when it had happened but he was glad that it had._

_Erwin listened as Armin explained how partly he’d followed Eren, mostly his decision to join scouting legion had been down to Eren, but he went on to explain that for as long as he could remember it had been his dream to explore the outside world, and the only way he could ever do that was to get rid of the titans first._

_None of what he said was a surprise to Erwin._

_Armin fell quiet and when Erwin looked at him, he saw the uncertainty in Armin’s eyes._

_“What is it?”_

_Armin licked his lips and then said: “My grandparents, they were killed in the governments crowd control measures.”_

_Erwin didn’t know what to say, but this certainly wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have right now._

_“I’m sorry.”_

_“You were there, weren’t you?”_

_Erwin nodded. He still had nightmares about that genocide, waking up drowning in innocent civilian blood._

_“Was it -?”_

_Erwin cut him off: “There’s no point dwelling on those things, Armin. You’ll only drive yourself mad.”_

_Armin looked like he wanted to push the point but then he sighed heavily._

_“I just don’t want to be another casualty of this government. That’s another reason I joined. To feel like I was doing something for myself, instead of just waiting to die in the work camp.”_

_Erwin thought then that Armin would have been 100% behind his plans to overthrow the government, if he shared them; but it was far to dangerous to let anyone know; the balance was just too delicate._

_Erwin also realised that they both shared a common motivation; they’d both lost loved ones to this corrupt government and they both wanted to do something about it._

_Armin studied his eyes, and Erwin stared right back; Erwin reached out his hand and lightly stroked a stray hair back from his face, his fingers softly grazing Armin’s cheek._

_Armin leaned into his touch, nuzzling his palm._

_They had both moved forward, closer to each other, close enough to – the knock on the door sprang them apart faster then you could blink, although Erwin was pretty sure it must have been obvious to Levi that something wasn’t right._

_“You should probably get some sleep now, Armin.”_

_“Yes sir.”_

“Erwin?” Armin asked, tentative, unsure if he should speak to him in such a familiar way.

“Yes, Armin?”

Armin’s gaze wouldn’t meet his.

“A lot has happened since the last time we saw each other. A lot has changed.” he paused. “I’ve changed. I’ve done things I wish I hadn’t had to do.”

He looked at Erwin and Erwin nodded in encouragement.

“I thought I was going to die.” he paused again, for longer this time. “I thought you were going to die, for certain; and after everything we’d done.”

“It’s ok. It all worked out.”

Armin nodded this time. “I just … I’ve thought quite a lot about that night, and I don’t know if I’m reading to much into it, but I don’t want to die without knowing.” he petered off.

“What do you want to know?” Erwin asked, although by the way his heart was now thumping in his chest he was certain he already knew the answer.

Armin’s cheeks flushed red, and he looked at the window, the wall, the floor, before looking back at Erwin.

“Were you going to kiss me that night?”

“Yes, I was.”

Erwin didn’t even pause to think before he answered.

Armin nodded again, slower this time.

Neither of the moved, neither of them even seemed to breathe.

Eventually, Armin looked up at him, the dark uncertain turmoil of mere moments before now replaced by a quiet calm understanding. Erwin had said the words he’d expected, or even hoped, to hear and that, it seemed, was all he needed.

“Thank you,”

“For what?” Erwin asked.

“For making them pay,” Armin replied, his voice sharp and brittle. “For making them pay for the people they’ve killed.”

They had once again gravitated towards each other, like two magnets trying to connect.

Armin’s gaze slid away from his.

“I killed someone. I had to. They were going to kill Jean. But I -” he stopped suddenly, as if afraid that if he continued, then the dam he’d built to hold back the guilt would break and he’d be crushed by the weight of it.

Erwin lifted his arm, reaching out to him, wanting to comfort him but not really knowing how. Armin taking his movement as an invite, stepped forward into the circle of his arm, resting his head on Erwin’s chest, his hand clutching at the material of Erwin’s shirt, fingernails lightly grazing Erwin’s skin.

If it had been anyone else he would have said: we’ve all killed someone; to Armin he said: “It’ll get easier.”

Armin’s head fitted perfectly beneath his chin, and he placed a light kiss on the golden hair. They stayed that way for a while, and even though he knew it was he who was essentially providing comfort to Armin, being quietly in his company like this again, was also providing comfort to Erwin.

Erwin was reluctant to acknowledge it when he felt the shift but, whatever his thoughts on the matter, Armin still inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly and moved back a step to looked up at him.

“What do you need me to do?”

Back to business.

“Those plans you were working on for an expedition to Shiganshina,” Armin nodded as he spoke. “Did you finish them?”

“I … almost. I … there was something I wasn’t sure about before … but now.” his expression was serious and sad. “It gets easier.”

Erwin’s heart hurt to hear his own words spoken back to him, and to understand the meaning behind them. He would have shielded Armin from these decisions for longer if he could but there was too much at stake and they’d come too far.

The person Armin’d been before wouldn’t have been able to knowingly send soldiers to their death; Erwin had seen him struggle with it, discounting strategy after strategy, looking for the outcome where their losses were minimal; the person standing in front of him now, could.

“I can get the final draft to you in a few hours,” Armin offered, but Erwin shook his head. He could see Armin’s exhaustion, just as clearly as Armin could no doubt see his own.

“No, not tonight. Just rest and enjoy the time you have with your friends. I’ll be spending the next few hours with Levi now anyway, I should expect.”

“If you’re sure.”

Erwin had to resist the urge to touch him again.

“I’m sure.”

Armin looked like he wanted to say something else, but he too held back.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then,”

“I look forward to it.”

Armin’s cheeks flared red once more and he turned away quickly. Erwin watched his receding back for a few heartbeats before turning away too.

“Erwin,” Armin called.

He paused and turned back, only to have Armin launch himself into his arms and press their lips together. Erwin froze before tightening his arm around Armin and kissing him deeper.

It was sweet, light, beautiful, innocent.

“Just please don’t die,” Armin breathed as he pulled away.

Before Erwin could reply, Armin was already jogging off down the corridor, his head ducked and face hidden.

The sudden dump of adrenaline into his blood system made him feel suddenly lightheaded, a little shaky when he walked. It had been a long time since he’d felt anything close to giddy and it made him smile, his smile only growing stronger when he reached his office. He had expected Levi to be waiting for him, but the sight of the him now, sitting in one of the chairs by the fire, tea tray set up on the table nearby, his legs stretched out towards the warmth that slowly radiated the room; it made him genuinely happy, like he had finally come home.

Levi looked over his shoulder at him.

“What would I do without you?” Erwin quipped as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

“You’d survive.” Levi deadpanned.

Erwin slumped down into the other chair and kicked off his boots, suddenly very aware of the taste of Armin on his lips.

“Perhaps,” he said. “But then who would make my tea? No one makes tea quite like you, Levi.”


End file.
